Lawyer who pleaded guilty to prostitution faces state disciplinary board

Attorney accused of lying in sworn statements about work as call girl

June 02, 2013|By Steve Schmadeke, Chicago Tribune reporter

Attorney Reema Bajaj, 25, of Sycamore pleaded not guilty to charges of prostitution Thursday, June 9, 2011, in DeKalb County, according to her attorney David Camic of Aurora. (DeKalb County)

An attorney who last year pleaded guilty to prostitution charges is now accused of lying to a state disciplinary board about her work as a call girl.

The complaint filed and made public last week against Reema Bajaj, 27, by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission contains the first detailed account of what led to criminal charges being filed against her in DeKalb County in 2011 — including that she allegedly had sex in exchange for supplies for her law office.

Between 2005 and 2008 — before she became an attorney — Bajaj posted online ads under the name Nikita and accepted money from two men in exchange for sex, according to the complaint. The first man paid her $200 for sex at a DeKalb hotel, then paid her $100 per meeting for about 25 encounters they had over the next three years, the complaint alleges.

A second man paid her between $25 and $70 in cash or an equivalent amount in DVDs or gift cards for sex on at least 15 occasions between 2007 and 2011, according to the complaint. Bajaj graduated from Northern Illinois University law school and became a licensed attorney in 2010.

That same year, she had sex with the second man in exchange for about $70 worth of office supplies for her legal practice in Sycamore, according to the complaint.

Bajaj pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of prostitution in June 2012 for an encounter that occurred a few months before she became an attorney. She was sentenced to 50 hours of community service and ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and get a psychological evaluation.

No charges were brought against the two men, according to DeKalb County Circuit Court records.

In September, Bajaj gave a sworn statement to the Illinois ARDC, telling an attorney for the agency that she never received money for sex, according to the complaint. She said that while she pleaded guilty to being paid $100 for one encounter, "I do not believe he paid me for sex," the complaint alleges.

The Illinois ARDC is seeking sanctions against Bajaj for allegedly lying in her sworn statements and not disclosing on her bar application that she was working as a prostitute.

Attempts Friday to reach Bajaj and the attorney representing her before the Illinois ARDC were unsuccessful.